30 Days of Pinspiration: Day 6

Day 6: Janelle Monáe

Check out my explanation here: 30 Days of Pinspiration: Day 6

Also, I posted an *Artist Spotlight* on here not too long ago...Check it out here:

 *Artist Spotlight*: Janelle Monáe

Source: colorlines.com via Michelle on Pinterest

I love y'all for free,

nNb ♥

*Artist Spotlight* --> Janelle Monae

"I feel like Harriet Tubman, except I am trying to free people through underground music, to free themselves creatively and inspirationally.” -Janelle Monae

Hey y'all!

After listening to some of my favorite Janelle Monae songs on Pandora Radio, I decided that I wanted to do this edition of Artist Spotlight on the brilliant songstress. Enjoy lovelies!

Janelle Monae Robinson was born on Decemeber 1, 1985 (she is currently 24 years old), in Kansas City, Kansas. She studied theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Later on, she moved to Atlanta, GA. where she met up with Big Boi from the group OutKast and founded the Wondaland Arts Society with other young artists.

In the year 2007, Monae released first solo album (which is part of a concept album of four parts or suites) entitled Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), which was later renamed Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition), following her collaboration with P. Diddy. The album was well-received and led to a Grammy nomination for her single Many Moons as well as opportunities to open for bands.

Her newest album, entitled The ArchAndroid was recently released on May 18th of this year. Both the 2nd and 3rd suites of the Metropolis concept are combined into this full-length release album (which is SUPER AWESOME, btw!). Here is the main concept for the Metropolis series (from Wikipedia.com):

Monáe's alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather—also the protagonist of Metropolis: The Chase Suite— becomes a messiah-esque figure to the android community of Metropolis. Monáe noted that she plans to shoot a video for each song on The ArchAndroid and create a movie, as well as create a graphic novel for it.

The Metropolis concept series draws inspiration from a wide range of musical, cinematic and other sources, ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to Debussy to Philip K. Dick. However, the series puts Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis, which Monáe referred to as "the godfather of science-fiction movies," in special regard. Aside from sharing a name, they also share visual styles (the cover for The ArchAndroid is inspired by the iconic poster for Metropolis), conceptual themes and political goals, using expressionistic future scenarios to examine and explode contemporary ideas of prejudice and class.

Monae does not associate with just one genre of music. Here is what she thinks about the categorization of her music:

"It's the things that you don't do that makes you who you are.”, “Don't put a label on your art, let others decide what they think it is, and while they are deciding or trying to figure out what to call your art and name it, you just continue to do more art.” -Andy Warhol. This quote got to me because as an Artist, people always want to categorize you and say oh, you are in this category, but there is nothing that I limit myself to doing. Categorizing myself will only limit my growth."

To get an idea of her musical style, she is a mix of pretty much afro-punk, funk, dance-punk, Indiie pop, pop, soul and much, much more! Below is a video of my favorite song from her first album Many Moons:

Check her out y'all!

Stay blessed,

nNb Y

*Artist Spotlight* --> Brooke Fraser

I won't find what I am looking for
If I only "see" by keeping score
'Cos I know now you are so much more than arithmetic
'Cos if I add, if I subtract
If I give it all, try to take some back
I've forgotten the freedom that comes from the fact
That you are the Sum
So you are the one
I want
~"Arithmetic" by Brooke Fraser

Hey y'all!

So...after listening to one a worship song from the worship team at Hillsong Church, I heard one of their beautiful songs entitled Hosanna. After I listened to the lyrics and watched the video and YouTube MANY times (lol!), I decided to look up more about that particular song. This is when I learned that Brooke Ligertwood (stage name Brooke Fraser) wrote that version of the song! She has such a beautiful voice! I've heard her lead the worship team in other songs as well, and so I decided to look her up to see if she had made anymore songs recently. Turns out, she also a mainstream recording artist and her music is all over the world! Talk about awesome!

She's got a total of two albums out right now: What to Do with Daylight (2003) and Albertine(2006). She also has another album slated to come out within the next couple of months. One of my favorite songs comes from her first album and it is entitled "Arithmetic". In this song, she is singing about how God is the only one that she wants. I really love this track and I love the music video as well. Check it out below:

Here's another video of her with Hillsong Church singing "Hosanna":

Check her out and tell what you think...comment below!

Peace,
nNb Y

New Segment on Blog: ARTIST SPOTLIGHT!

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. "

~Plato

Hey y'all!

I'm baccccccccccccccccccck! It's been a long time, I know...I'm almost done with school...2 more weeks, just bare with me...

I've decided to start a new segment on the blog dedicated to artists that may or may not be well-known. I'm doing this because sometimes you can be soooo into your own music that miss out on chances to hear new music...who knows, maybe one of these artists will be added to your already booming music rotation :)

Peace,

nNb Y